Taunton police working with city landlords to combat heroin use

TAUNTON — Police hope to work with city landlords to help prevent rental properties from turning into drug houses, as part of a local law enforcement strategy to combat heroin and opiate use.

“The stakes are high,” said Taunton police Chief Edward Walsh. “If the properties are being used for drug sales, they are subject to forfeiture at both the state and federal level. If this type of activity is happening, they are likely going to see property damage to their property, as well as good tenants vacating or not being able to fill a vacancy.”

Taunton police presented a report during a community forum held at Friedman Middle School on Monday night, detailing the department’s overall strategy to combat the city’s heroin and opiate problem. Police representatives explained the department’s approach to strategic policing, supply reduction and the implementation of a new drug intervention program.

In the report, Taunton police expressed their willingness to assist landlords with the eviction of drug dealers who may live in their properties.

“Street Crime Detectives will make contact with landlords to inform them of the drug-related issues at the properties they own,” the report said. “In all cases, property owners will be notified in writing when the police department makes an arrest for drug distribution at a rental property.”

The report said that while most drug transactions occur at non-residential locations, many “street” and “mid-level” drug dealers live in rented apartments and use these apartments for the preparation and storage of drugs for sale.

“If sales are happening at the location, these activities impact the quality of life in the neighborhood,” the report said. “If drug sales or related activity is occurring at a residential property, the Taunton Police Department is willing to assist landlords with the eviction of the dealers.”

One property, in particular, has caught the attention of city law enforcement, after frequent calls related to drug use. Five overdoses were reported over a span of three days last week at the rear apartment at 40 Tremont St. , according to police.

Owners of a nearby business, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said that they see apparent drug activity at the location constantly.

“It’s going on every day there,” one of the owners said. “Something needs to be done about it. It’s causing problems.”

The business owner said he believes that the suspected drug activity at the location has led to several late-night break-ins at his property in recent years, including once last summer when intruders smashed the windows at his business. He said there were at least two others businesses in the vicinity that were targets in recent break-ins, which he attributed to the area’s drug users.

“I wish they would just go away,” said the other owner, who added that a larger police presence was needed in the area. “It’s scary. Sometimes we see them out front, doing their business right in the parking lot.”

The two-level house at 40 Tremont St. is located opposite a large plaza, with several stores, including a Trucchi’s supermarket. On Tuesday afternoon, a car in the parking lot came to a stop before a passenger hopped out, ran across the street into the driveway and went into the 40 Tremont St. rear location.

Several messages left Tuesday at the property owner’s publicly listed phone number were not returned as of press time. While the property appears to be have been foreclosed upon, Walsh said, the Middleboro resident who is the stated owner of the building has been sent letters from police regarding problems at the location.

“I have sent letters to both the listed owner and the attorney representing the mortgage company about the issues at the location,” Walsh said. “I have also been in contact with the Board of Health and fire department concerning the code violations that I observed and asked them to address the matter.”

Walsh said situations involving absentee landlords make the work of dealing with drug activity at their properties more problematic.

“I met recently with the landlord association to discuss issues of problem properties and working together to address them,” he said. “I have offered the assistance of the department where appropriate. The issue is usually not the responsible landlords, it is the absentee or bank-owned properties where there is no oversight of what is happening on the property.”

Walsh said he couldn’t recall any recent drug-related arrests made at 40 Tremont St.

Walsh said that the Taunton Police Department website, www.tauntonpd.com, is establishing a link specifically to assist landlords with the eviction process and that hopefully it will be functional by the end of the week. Walsh said the department will provide police reports as required and make officers available to testify in housing court.

During Monday’s public forum, law enforcement officials said there have been five fatal overdoses in Taunton since the beginning of 2014. There have been 66 heroin overdoses in the city so far in 2014, Taunton police said.

Walsh said he believes Monday’s public forum on combating heroin and opiate use went well and resulted in healthy communication among citizens.

“At this point we need to review what was discussed and develop a plan to keep the dialogue going,” he said.

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